There surely has to be some shaking up of the rankings with what's happened the last 2 weeks-Edgar upsetting Penn and Melendez thoroughly dominating Aoki. If I were ranking them I think I could make a strong case for Melendez being #1 now, at worst he's Top 3 but I can't rank him lower than #2. I don't know if I can put Edgar #1 despite his win over Penn with all the stuff coming out of it, Aoki isn't #1 after his performance in SF, so I think I'd have to rate Melendez #1 for now.

What say you?

AchillesHeel »
Posted 2/3/07 10:04:00AM

If we're talking MMA Playground's rankings, we have to "rank the top 10 most skilled MMA fighters in each weight class" (emphasis theirs, not mine). So I still have to rate Penn #1.

1. Consistency and the ability to "show up" for a fight has to be part of a fighter's skillset, and that clearly favors Edgar and Melendez over Penn and Aoki. I don't recall ever seeing those two perform at less than 100%. Nevertheless, the Penn-Edgar decision was as tight as a drum, and it didn't look to me as though Penn had his "A-game."

2. A single fight should never, imho, completely upend a good ranking system. Rankings based on skill should be an accumulation of several fights (on the other hand, rankings for the purpose of determining something like who gets the next title shot could be much more volatile). There's an argument to be made that a champion should rank above a comparable non-champion, by definition. There's also an argument to be made that the winner of a fight should always be ranked above the guy he just defeated, also by definition. I'm not sure I agree, but they're points worth making.

3. When ranking fighters in terms of skills, a fighter's losses can become meaningful, and fights outside the weight class under scrutiny should be disregarded. BJ Penn's losses to GSP and Matt Hughes should basically be stricken from his record, for purposes of comparing him to other Lightweights.

4. I have the sinking feeling that I greatly overestimated Shinya Aoki. I thought his boxing and takedowns looked really, really poor against Melendez. I'm afraid the stretchy pants and the boxing ring and the opponents with no wrestling might be important components of his success. While trying to observe "rule #2" above, I have to consider dropping Aoki out of the Top 5 (I think Penn, Edgar, Kenny Florian, Sean Sherk, and Diego Sanchez would all murder him, although Sherk is close to my 1-year cutoff for ranking fighters).

SmileR »
Posted 12/17/07 8:56:00PM

I'd say you either have to have Edger or BJ as number 1. Melendez is top 5 for sure but he hasn't fought the quality of fighters BJ or Edger has. I'd even say Kenny should be ranked above. Melendez's recent fights have been against top 10 guys but if you're going on who's beat who and done it impressively he doesn't really belong in the top three with Kenny, BJ and Edger.

If we're talking MMA Playground's rankings, we have to "rank the top 10 most skilled MMA fighters in each weight class" (emphasis theirs, not mine). So I still have to rate Penn #1.

I personally am not, it's more who is your personal #1.

AchillesHeel »
Posted 2/3/07 10:04:00AM

Posted by DCRage

If we're talking MMA Playground's rankings, we have to "rank the top 10 most skilled MMA fighters in each weight class" (emphasis theirs, not mine). So I still have to rate Penn #1.

I personally am not, it's more who is your personal #1.

Well, any rankings have to be evaluating something. For example, we've seen lately that "effective" and "exciting" are different qualities in a fighter. You could rank fighters in one category, or in the other, or in a weighted combination of both. So, yes, it is who is "your personal #1", but without knowing what it is you're judging the fighters on, I can't understand your opinion.

spikerman19 »
Posted 6/22/07 1:23:00AM

Top 3 should be Edgar, Penn, Florian. Florian beats Edgar and beats the BJ from last weekend.

1daveufc »
Posted 12/28/08 12:59:00PM

BJ was number 1 before saturday and he is still number 1 and i think kenflo is number 2 and melendez number 3.

MiniMan »
Posted 8/3/09 9:43:00AM

BJ is the best fighter at 155, But... In reply, If you want numbers, Frankie Edgar is No.1, The man holds the UFC belt. Enough said! GSP says it best since Serra 1, Its not the best fighter, But the guy who fights the best.

Frankie has EARNED his #1

TheGodfather1024 »
Posted 4/12/09 2:44:00PM

Penn

grappler0000 »
Posted 3/24/07 5:29:00PM

For those interested, here's how it currently stands over at the Sherdog poll.

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postman »
Posted 6/23/07 7:57:00PM

We all have our own take on how rankings should work. Is the most skilled fighter the best? Is it the UFC Champ? Is it who has the best win loss stats? Who beat who? A combo of all of them seems to be the way most go but it then goes into whats more important.

I have to admit I have not done my rankings on the playground in years. Why because I don't really care about them. Who IMO is the BEST fighter at 155 easy BJ Penn. Now If I had my own Website and was forced to do rankings who would I have at 1 I would have to go with Edgar.

In Most cases the #1 fighter in a given weight class is a Zuffa fighter. To be honest they dominate 155 and up. This makes me lean toward the idea that to be the numer one ranked fighter in the world you have to be a UFC king. Granted HW is the exception.

It really dosn't matter that most think BJ won or Not fact is his record reflects a loss to Frank Edgar. so I have them looking like this

1. Frank Edgar2. Bj Penn3. Gilbert Melendez4. Gray Maynard5. Kenflo.

Many will say Kenny should be higher and skill wise I agree but the way everything has shaked down over the last month clearly BJ and Gray are ahead of Kenflo for the title shot. Gray has said he can not wait for a BJ Edgar two fight and will fight agian, likely against Florian, if the rematch happens.

As for Gilbert Hands down if Aoki wins that fight he was going to be crowned #1 in the division. Gil dominated him for 5 rounds. If Mario dosn't make the terrible call to stand the fight up or if elbows where legal chances are he stops Aoki. It wasn't that long ago we where talking about Gil as the top 3 in the divison sadly we can't see him use his entire skill set at the highest level yet.

So thats how I have em.

slapshot »
Posted 6/22/07 2:16:00PM

You have to rank them based on what they've done and the record. I know a lot of ppl felt BJ won that fight but the judges did not and so he didn't.

Edgar beat the #1 fighter in MMA at lightweight In my mind that makes him #1.

UFC rankings should look like this IMO

1. Edgar2. Penn3. Sherk 4. Maynard5. Kenflo

Remember Sherk beat kenflo and IMO would still beat him that and his record puts him ahead of the pack.

You can flipflop Edgar and Penn if you want I have no beef with that other than what I already stated but I have a hard time placing Maynard or kenflo above Sherk.

NatedawgThaM »
Posted 6/25/07 5:46:00PM

I got...

1. Edgar2. BJ Penn3. Gilbert4. Eddie Alvarez5. Kenny

That's pretty much mine Florian over Maynard just because I don't think Maynard really done anything except keep winning, like Edgar's his #1 win which is real good but that wasn't when Edgar was very high as a contender so it didn't count for much back then. Kenny just dominated Guida and Gomi two solid lightweights not to mention I'd put Eddie Alvarez behind Kenny. So I want Maynard to fight a top 5 before he gets in. I know he beat Edgar but like I said Edgar was highly ranked then so a rematch would be good. so I'm just waiting for Maynard to get a top guy nothing against him. Kenny & maynard, THEY MUST FIGHT!(weak asian accent) hahaha Looks like they will too, good stuff.

BustedKnuckle »
Posted 9/2/09 5:48:00PM

I have to go with Frankie as of right now. He took it to BJ and I think confused him with his footwork. I cant wait to see the re-match. See how much BJ really wants that title?

RyanC »
Posted 8/25/09 5:08:00PM

I don't care if Frankie holds the belt at the moment. Penn is still # 1. He is and has been the best LW for a long time, and one loss doesn't mean he isn't the best anymore. I'm still convinced something was wrong with BJ in that fight. BJ will take the belt back in the rematch and all will be right with the world. . . .